(Very) Basic Combat Tips For Newbies

[Erudite]

Not sure if there have be specific posts for this yet or not, but while I'm sure plenty of the spam about the game being busted or too hard is coming from antis who are farming forum karma, I figured it couldn't hurt to point out the very clear vulnerabilities each enemy type has in the rare event it might help someone.

(Unarmored) Monkey / Muddie / Feral Cannibal
- Do not chase as you may need a lot of stamina to knock them down with early weaponry and they have a habit of continuing to sprint at a pace you can't overtake until exhausted; Spears are likely your best early game bet as they attack fast enough and hard enough to flinch the enemy so long as you are not exhausted, and you can throw them when trying to catch them when they move predictably.

- A single Stone Arrow to the head will also kill them, so if you are being swarmed, calmly backpedal without sprinting down a road or other terrain with clear sightline and wait for one to charge directly at you.

If Armored
- As sniping weakpoints is unlikely due to their hitbox, a Torch can shine here by forcing them into a panicked state. Using a firearm would not be a complete waste, as nothing currently requires them.


(unarmored) Cannibal / Painted Cannibal
- Unlike the Monkeys, Cannibals tend to have more standard movement and long periods of posturing which make for very easy headshots, which will instantly kill them with only a Stone Arrow. The Crafted Bow is highly recommended for large numbers, while a full stack of Spears are more than sufficient for melee; understand that most attack animations assume you will remain still when initiated, so when trying to melee, simply circle strafe without sprinting and you will be almost entirely safe.

- Legs: this enemy is the first of many with a very strong weakness to leg hits, with a single Stone Arrow placing them in a prolonged recoil animation you will quickly learn to headshot them out of in complete safety. Do note that this enemy's leaping attack animation will not easily break for this though, so look for a clear shot while they are standing.

If Armored
- Headshots as usual if they aren't wearing anything tougher than Plant Armor on their head. If they have a sturdy helmet, you can easily stunlock them by alternating legshots. Bonus points if you shoot their legs three times and stop, so they suffer with the crippled condition until they give up and sit down for a very long time to recover.


Reds / Fat Cannibal
- Completely trivial other than their frequent leaping attack, due to never wearing armor, the same Legs weakness as Cannibals and instant death to a single Stone Arrow headshot. Free kill with either a Bow or Spear toss (or two if you hit the leg first). Try to bait their leap if they are too close, as they are unlikely to recoil when struck while leaping.


Cannibal Chief / Giant / Discount Jason Voorhees
- An absolute joke, but a time consuming one with starting equipment. While possessing a number of attack animations that will not be broken by weakpoint recoil, they posture a lot between threatening you and throwing around corpses, and they can't turn worth a damn when chasing you. You need much more damage to kill them, but a single Stone Arrow will still drop them to the ground, just don't be tempted to close the distance and stay there as when they are hit again they immediately stand up and retaliate. Best handled by headshotting them down to the ground in between clearing out any other weaker enemies, then taking one's time finishing them off

- If they bring a boat motor, I believe it takes only three Stone Arrows to detonate the boat motor and blow them up instantly, though needs more testing.


Babies
- Run past them, as there is no incentive to kill them unless they're attacking your base. When you need to kill them, either circle strafe with a Spear, throw a single Spear at them, or shoot them with two Stone Arrows.

- They frequently bundle together in large groups, and while not an especially good use of Grenades or Time Bombs early on (though quite effective), a Molotov may be a better solution for your resources.


Greys / Eyeless / Cave Cannibals
- A tougher and more aggressive hybrid of the Monkeys and Cannibals with AI built for swarming; best handled by sneaking up close enough to land a headshot with a silent weapon (Bow / Spear). You may also be able to mislead groups that haven't "detected" you by throwing a Small Stone away from you to lure them into investigating. If successful, bomb them quickly with a Grenade or Time Bomb (Molotovs may be too slow to prep). Remember that they will need more than a single Stone Arrow headshot to be killed.

- When swarmed, these enemies suffer the same prolonged recoil animation when struck in the legs, and funneling them through tight spaces can keep them controlled for melee spam, or the more recommended Grenade, Time Bomb or Molotov if you have neither of the former.


Fingers / Jizz-Cannon
- An enemy with such a glaring weakness, they needed to add a damage limit to it. Legs, legs, legs. A single Stone Arrow is enough to plant them for at least 5 seconds, during which you can safely close to melee and punish, or calmly prep for a second legshot. HOWEVER, once they receive enough damage, they will jump up to their feet and very quickly resume attacking, so watch out for that and be ready to back up. I highly recommend hotkeying a Bow or Spear and your strongest melee weapon so you can swap quickly after dropping them, but you really don't have to since you're under no pressure when retrieving your projectiles from their body when stunned.

- Most notable early enemy with MANY stun-resistant animations, do NOT attempt to snipe their legs while they are already attacking / lunging. Unless stunned, they will always immediately initiate an attack animation when you close into melee; this is a single wide horizontal swipe when at its sides or back, and it has a three swipe combo for its "normal" attack, all of which will shrug off any stun attempts. Clearly dead when they spew a stream of goo and "cough" loudly.


Twins / Spider
- Do not close into melee if unfamiliar with attack pattern and their slow pivot speed. Easiest solution is sniping their large middle arms which places them in a very predictable backpedal in which they do not attack and gives you time for one or two melee attacks; a third can be attempted, but will frequently cause you to be hit.

- Like the Fingers, they have MANY stun-resistant animations, so play conservatively with plenty of arrows / spears until you become familiar with them.


Worm / Human Centipede
- This enemy is the very thing the Stun Baton and Stun Gun were added to the game to defeat. It is entirely possible to strike this enemy with one Stun Gun round, and to beat them to death with a strong melee weapon before they recover. Considering the awkward and unusual nature of their attack animations and collateral destructiveness to bases in particular, compared to the other enemies, this method is likely to be your singularly best option (give or take a fire firearm shots if you can spare them).

- If you do not have Stun ammo / batteries, the creature does not have a very good turn speed so you can strafe around to avoid some attacks, but the swinging arc is quite large, so a weapon such as the Skull Club may not be a bad option if you intend to block a lot. However my recommendation would be fire, from Molotovs and the Torch if necessary, if you don't have enough ranged weapons or bullets to do the job.


Demon / Scorpion
- Cross. Like the Stun weapons for the Worm, the Cross is tailor-made explicitly to kill these creatures as it uniquely makes them recoil and applies burning to them. They will die after roughly three applications. Genuinely, however, this is an incredibly boring method of play, and aside from Creeper Armor, there is again no incentive to engage in these fights, so it might be more constructive to bypass them entirely.

- Without a Cross, fire is still a strong option in the absence of Stun weaponry or Firearms, so Molotovs or a Torch; I have yet to find any considerable weakpoints to exploit, as hitting their legs makes them very quickly jump away, and they sometimes will lock into a loop of very quick killing side swipes.

[Nickcat]

Thank you so much! I was really struggeling with the combat, but the game feels so great, and with this guide, i actually feel like I can win some fights, im still not the best at combat, but this alredy helped me out a lot!